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A resident of New York has sold their last bottle of fake Pappy Van Winkle, although they could be bootlegging pruno from a jail cell.

That's actually not likely to happen as punishment for selling counterfeit goods is typically financial in nature, but still, it's a solid win for the Van Winkle family and the Buffalo Trace Distillery.

The counterfeiter has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in January.

Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon is a popular target of thieves and counterfeiters. Small quantities of the bourbon are released annually – the next batch arrives this month – and they quickly sell out.

That creates a black market and has led to counterfeiters using forged labels or empty bottles refilled with Old Throat Scorcher 101.

“Sadly, the Van Winkle bourbons are the latest victim of counterfeiting where innocent consumers are duped,” Mark Brown, president and chief executive officer of Buffalo Trace Distillery said in a release.

“Avoid buying any bourbon or whiskey, especially the highly sought after ones, from anyone in the secondary market, which includes online private sellers, or in these social media groups that claim to offer genuine products. The only legal and reputable source you should be buying from is a licensed retailer.”

The New York offender sold two bottles for $1,500. It was not revealed which version of Pappy was involved but it was probably old enough to legally drink itself.

The press release said that this marks the first successful prosecution for counterfeiting and that other cases are being investigated.

Julian Van Winkle could fix all of this if he'd just make enough to go around but instead offered some advice, via the release, about buying from anyone other than a retailer: "The old adage of if seems too good to be true, it probably is, definitely applies here.”

According to The Bourbon Exchange, a bourbon blog, here are ways to avoid getting Pappy Van ripped off:

Don't deal with strangers. Joe next door is probably cool. Joe on Craigslist not so much.

Ask for proof of purchase.

Look for a laser code, which is etched on the side of real bottles.

Check the cap. Legitimate empty bottles are often used but if the cap "looks wrinkled, crooked or just off it’s probably because the guy refilled the bottle and put the foil cap on in his garage with a heat gun or hairdryer."

Reporter Jeffrey Lee Puckett can be reached at 502-582-4160 and jpuckett@courier-journal.com.